Research

The Faculty's Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is one of the leading UK centres for applied educational research and evaluation with a thriving research community. 67% of our research was rated as ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world leading’ in the REF 2014, with 100% of our research impact being rated ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world leading’.

ESRI is committed to research enriched professional practice, and aims to offer the best and most innovative approaches to research based professionalism in the UK, across a growing range of professional areas. Teaching within the Faculty is closely informed by research and both Schoole work closely with ESRI.

Research is led by a professorial team of international distinction, including Tony Brown, Liz de Freitas, Rachel Holmes, Cathy Lewin, Maggie MacLure, John Schostak, Yvette Solomon, Harry Torrance (Director) and Nicola Whitton. The Institute has an outstanding portfolio of research grants and publications, regularly organises national and international seminars and workshops and other services to research, and offers several studentship awards annually.

Advancing theory and methodology in social research is a long-standing interest, alongside the ways in which knowledge is produced, used and controlled, and in the complicated relationships that exist between research, policy, professional practice and the public interest.

Our research activities comprise five RKE groups, four with a substantive empirical focus, and a fifth (Theory and Methodology) which underpins and informs their activity. Each group operates under professorial leadership:

Research active, research engaged

Staff within the Faculty are research active and keen to engage and supervise students across a wide range of fields and specialisms, meaning that our academic staff utilise their own research not only to develop their teaching, but also use their teaching to inform their research.

Applications are welcomed from UK, EU and International students for MRes, PhD and MPhil, as well as for an innovative Education Doctorate (EdD) focusing on professionalism and research based practice.